Interview of the week

Bruce BOWERS, Regional CEO, ALLIANZ in CEE

"I am proud to lead this growth region for ALLIANZ and to build on the success to date that has been achieved. Today we have 7.5 million customers in the region, meaning that people see us as a trusted and reliable partner."

XPRIMM: You have been regional CEO for Central and Eastern Europe for six months. How has your experience been with the region so far?Bruce BOWERS:
In the first months I have been to all the operating entities and held a
number of town hall meetings. I am impressed how highly dedicated and
motivated our staff and distribution partners are. I am proud to lead
this growth region for ALLIANZ and to build on the success to date that
has been achieved.

XPRIMM: How do you see the business development in the first half of 2011?B.B.:
I am very satisfied with the positive development of the region this
year. We were able to increase momentum from the first quarter and
continued to grow. Total premiums rose and so did our operating profit.
That is not easy considering the economic environment in the region as
well as political issues in some countries. Now we need to make sure
that we continue on this path of sustainable growth. To summarize: It is
time to grow profitably again.

XPRIMM: What can we expect from ALLIANZ in Central and Eastern Europe going forward?B.B.:
The region is still a growth story and we will be part of it. I
particularly see a lot of potential in the Life business. People are
starting to realize that they are getting older and if they want to
maintain their standard of living they now have to start to invest and
look ahead. For example, in Croatia, people last year spent nearly 80
euros each per year on life insurance, while in Germany the figure is
over 1,100 euros. This clearly shows there is potential for growth.

XPRIMM: Any other growth areas you see?B.B.:
The Asset Management and Pension Fund business is very promising. Since
we started this business we have seen constant growth, and today we are
the market leader across the whole region. One of the reasons is that
we benefit form the expertise and know-how of ALLIANZ as a worldwide
group and the investment scale it can offer.

XPRIMM: What about your customers in Central and Eastern Europe?B.B.:
From a customers point of view we remain the partner of choice. This
summer parts of Slovakia faced storms and floods. Alone in June more
than 40,000 claims were reported. In such cases of emergency the main
goal is to help as quickly as possible. To support our affected
customers, our colleagues of ALLIANZ in Slovakia helped with advanced
payments or an enhanced claims settlement procedure. For the time being
we spent 1.8 million euros. In terms of customer figures we have
also grown this base. Today we have 7.5 million customers compared to
the first half year of 2010, which translates to an increase of nearly 6
percent. This shows customers in the region see us as a trusted and
reliable partner.

XPRIMM: Where will you be focusing?B.B.:
To keep up this successful trend, we will continue to focus on our core
business and leverage ALLIANZ's global lines. In addition, we will
further develop our multi-channel distribution strategy. Providing our
staff in the region with training and career development opportunities
is also essential to our success.In Russia we started the process to
consolidate our ALLIANZ entities into one company. The goal there is to
simplify things for our customers by giving them a single point of
entry under one brand and create a more effective platform for further
growth. Compliance, risk management, governance and strengthening of
our internal control systems are also in focus as we build our
franchise in Central and Eastern Europe.

XPRIMM: What is the significance of business in Central and Eastern Europe for the ALLIANZ Group?B.B.:
In the first six months of this year our entities in the region brought
in revenues of two billion euros, which equals four percent of the
ALLIANZ Group's total while five years ago the region delivered two
percent. This demonstrates the growth in our Central and Eastern
European business - despite the complex business environment. And it
remains an attractive growth region, too: market penetration is still
fairly low, and economic development is relatively strong across the
board. So I'm glad we entered this region so early and were able to
establish and keep our leading position there.